The Grapevine: Sister Trip through Almost Heaven and it Features a Familiar Name, New Faces, and More
By Rosalyn Queen on October 30, 2025 from The Grapevine
This past week I found myself on a little trip to have some sister time with my sister Joan. My sister-in-law Trina Pearrell invited us to the wedding of her daughter, Julie and Zach Roper, which was held in Charles Town, West Virginia.
Trina shares the same father as Fray. This is such a beautiful part of West Virginia with Harper’s Ferry within walking distance. There is much history in this area.
The wedding was a beautiful event with the vows taken in an outdoor setting and the reception held in a beautiful barn. This was one of the few times that Joan and I got to share time with Trina, Tammy Gragg, and TR Queen. They share the same father as Fray Queen and we had a great time reliving memories made on Moonshine Mountain when we were much younger.
We had the opportunity to attend Mass at one of the most beautiful churches in West Virginia. It was St. James the Greater located in Charles 
Town. The church was very large and although I did not get an actual number of the membership, I knew it must be large because they have four priests and several deacons assigned to this church.
Town. The church was very large and although I did not get an actual number of the membership, I knew it must be large because they have four priests and several deacons assigned to this church.
Now I was so surprised to see listed on the bulletin that the head priest was Father Tim Grassi, if my memory serves me correctly, he was once here in Clarksburg at Immaculate Conception.
The parishioners that were in attendance must have recognized that Joanne and I were visitors and many of them approached us and welcomed us. We even spoke with the priest when mass was over. We were both impressed by the beautiful church and those members that treated us so kindly. There was one area that really impressed Joanne and Me and that was a wall that contained hundreds of small crosses. Each of the crosses were donated by the Parishioners.
One morning, when we had gone down to eat breakfast at the hotel, we joined a gentleman who had two empty chairs at his table and of course, we engaged in a conversation with him. It so happened that this gentleman was an entrepreneur, and he was on his way to Lancaster, Pennsylvania, where his invention was being made by a manufacturer. Having had some experience with the entrepreneurs in our area I was really interested to know about his invention. It was called the Big Looper.
This is a hose holder that you would install on your wall wherever you had a hose outside that you use for watering your garden and so forth. He had one of the holders with him and brought it in to show to me and Joanne. I was impressed by the design and the quality of the holder. It even had a special area where you could hook the sprayer to the holder.
The gentleman’s name was Jesse Cockerell, and he lived in Fort Worth, Texas. Now if any of you Are interested in contacting him, here is a phone number he gave me to print. It is 800-442-7336. I was really impressed by this item, and I hope we will see it at one of the local stores. Of course, I found out other information from him, and he told me that he too had twin boys and shockingly to me, they were identical.
We ended our mini vacation with a beautiful drive back to Clarksburg. On the way back we stopped at a market and purchased hands full of old-time penny candy, which is hard to find these days. Of course it is not penny candy anymore, but it still tastes great. I am sitting here eating Mary Jane’s and reliving my mini vacation with my sister and my daughter, Leslie and her husband Dixon. Everything was perfect and a nice getaway for us.
We were a little disappointed that the trees were not as vibrant as we had hoped they would be, but it was too soon. Hats off to Leslie and Dixon for maneuvering and caring for us two 80-something year old ladies.
You still have time to go for a mini vacation in West Virginia and enjoy our beautiful scenery.
Stay healthy get ready for winter and plan to enjoy your family and friends as the holidays approach. I hope next week you will be able to enjoy a book review from Roz’s book club. Until then, “Now you have heard it through the Grapevine.”
Editor's Note: Shown is a photo of Father Timothy Grassi.
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